Kalenderblad augustus met drie zwemmende eenden 1908

This calendar sheet for August with three swimming ducks was made by Theo van Hoytema. It makes you wonder, how did this artwork come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition? You can feel Van Hoytema hovering over the work, sympathetic to him as he tries to evoke something special with such a limited palette. I wonder what he might have been thinking when he made it? The lithographic crayon and ink wash are thin, creating a delicate sense of light and shadow. It reminds me a little of Odilon Redon, but there’s also something very Dutch about the way Van Hoytema sees the light reflecting off the water. That one duck in front, reaching down with its beak, is so perfect! All artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.